Swamp Girl

To be a Mississippi River boat pilot, you have to draw the entire navigable river, drawing every wing dam, mile marker, bend, and island, as well as the channel. I don't know my pond that well...yet. If I were to draw it, I'd miss some shoreline notches, but if I were to guide any of you, I could point to a spot that holds fish and tell you to cast there and you'd likely catch a bass. I know a lot of those spots. So, I likely know it better than anyone has ever known it, but I don't know it as well as I will in a year, three years, five years, etc. However, I'll never know it like someone with electronics could learn it. I know where the bass are, but I don't always know why they're there, i.e. what structure is attracting them.

Thanks, Al. One thing that helped me catch more bass was the word "column" as in "fishing the three levels of the column." So, that's why I try to do. I work the bottom, the middle, and the top and like you, I'm more concerned about what lures will go where I want them to be than the "color, shape, sound, etc." It is. I cast it everywhere. Sometimes if I'm deep in wetlands, I chuck it where there might be water. Being low in my boat with high weeds and brush in front of me, I can't always see what's beyond, but a few times, I've cast, heard the lure splash into water, and then heard and felt the eruption.

I use the VMC heavy duty underspin. I used to use Owner underspins, but they don't take a beating like the VMC heavy duty underspins can. They only come with willow blades. Persuasive. I tried one once and caught a bass, but not quick enough to continue using it. Maybe I should do like you did and loop back to it.

Yes, I do. I just rig the bait so that the hook is tight against the soft plastic. It's pretty weed-free. I have cast and guided Ploppers through many lily pad fields. There are nearly always lanes. I just keep switching my rod tip from side to side. I think it's fun to guide the bait through the fields. It's like solving a maze when I was a kid. The thread about our 2026 goals got me thinking about my excessive lures. Some in that thread had a goal of using more lures. Others want to use fewer lures. I've been leaning hard into fewer lures for the last couple years. Now, IF I towed a boat with vast storage capacity, I might not care how many lures my boat carted, but I walk through the dark woods to launch. I have to carry all my lures, not a trailer towed by an F-150 truck. And my boats are small, so the more equipment I bring, the more cluttered they are. My point is that my fishing situation is different. I'm not trailering a big boat. I am launching in the dark. Simplicity works for me.

Those are healthy, beautiful bass, Russ.

I am likely feeling this way because I'm overwhelmed by how many lures I've amassed that I'll never use, but I think we need far fewer lures than we procure. Now, I've had good luck with my spinnerbaits. And I've caught thousands with my underspins. And I've purchased some never-used Johnson spoons. And I have some chatterbaits still in their packaging. But I think of all four as basically the same bait. They all have flash and I can attach soft plastics to each. I can cast all four into heavy cover. Now, I think there are moments when a bass prefers a spinnerbait to an underspin or a chatterbaits or a spoon, but most days, I think each will work. When it comes to surface lures, I think a Whopper Plopper, buzzbait, and popper are basically the same lure too. I might include the walking baits too and the ones with spinners front and aft. And when it comes to soft plastics, the idea that the thousands of different soft plastics are truly thousands of different lures, well, I just can't go along with that. They're all pretty much the same lure most days. Again, I do think there are moments when bass prefers a certain lure in a certain color. I'd write more, but the Bait Monkey is pounding on my front door and shrieking.

This is my trend too. I fish fewer lures than I once did, but I did add a buzzbait to my rotation in 2025 and intend to fish jerkbaits more in 2026.

Go, Pops!

I'm guessing a LOT of us are wanting to fish with @AbelG. I sure am. Those fish are gorgeous.

No, thank you. Using a baitcasting outfit more is change enough. Yes, please.

Nope. A three-rod holder, a paddle holder, and two trolling rod holders. I prefer to fish on the move.

That sounds fun! My 2026 goals: Catch 1,800 bass. I think I'll do this even though I couldn't reach 1,500 last year because I struck a deal with my spouse to fish three mornings a week in May and June and then only one morning a week in July and August as opposed to two mornings a week through the fishing season. So, I'll be fishing more when the fishing is hot. Use a baitcasting outfit. Not exclusively, but alongside my spinning outfits. My anemia improved recently, so if it stays improved, fish the bogs more to give myself a chance at some six, seven, or even eight-pounders. I wanted to bog fish more in 2025, but I was just too tired to load, unload, load, and unload the canoe for each trip, as well as lugging it over hill and dale. Catch multiple 19-inchers at my pond. I caught my first three at the end of 2025 and I'm hoping many more await me as the bass have become bigger. Weigh more bass. I bought a fishing kayak, so I want to develop skill with it. I have kayaked a closed hull kayak for thousands of miles, but a fishing kayak is different and I look forward to learning its nuances. I also bought some YakAttack accessories and will install those in the spring. I'll keep this boat year-round at my pal's pond. Guide The Kid to multiple 19-inch-plus bass.

Well, I'm in awe of anglers who catch 8-pounders! Well done, King. That's a handsome fish, both long and thick.

This is a cool thread. My first impulse is to say any body of water before people reached it, but I've fished such bodies of water in my youth. I would like to float and fish the Mississippi before they build the dams and levees, to see it flowing wild and ranging, maybe in the time of Twain's youth, when paddlewheelers still plied it.

@N Florida Mike: Consider this as a new screen name: ICatchMoreBigBassEachWeekThanMostofYouCatchinaYear

Ha! That's one funny woman. However, in my defense, I'm almost as goofy as her.

@Goby: Nice try, but you can't fool me. There's no place on Earth that beautiful. Somehow, some way, you got a photo of Heaven. Back to clear-cutting: At my last place in Maine, I worked with a forester to restore the natural diversity of my property. I planted many of the missing trees, the ones lost to clear-cutting, such as elm, black walnut, cherry, chestnut, striped maple, hickory, ironwood, etc. I don't know why, but most elms don't die in Maine and I planted blight-resistant chestnuts.

She sure looks like she's preggers, Mike. Your hot streak continues! Al, you can always come to Maine and cast your lures onto the ice with me. I keep hoping that there will be a bass big enough to bust through.

I'm just glad someone is still catching fish, Russ! Even the Mighty Al of Iowa has put his rods away.

If I fished California, I'd need some help for sure. I know nothing about West Coast fishing.

You're on top of your situation, Mr. Ess. Well done!

You guys are so handy! And clever!! And thrifty!!!

I like articles like this!

Hi, Kenny! I'm a canoe angler too.

Tom, I think of you as one of the world's best bass anglers, so you gave her quite a gift in sharing your expertise.